Mayor Al Miller encourages residents to have their say on Invermere’s draft bylaw aimed at regulating short-term rentals.
“We worked with stakeholders who operate these STRs, and we had an open house public input session on the bylaw to hear both sides,” said Miller. “Lastly, we have this survey out in the community to gather as much information as we can so we can make some good decisions.”
Miller said the community has about 300 short-term rental units.
He said the bylaw will help set up rules to better regulate the market.
“One thing that needs to happen is the management of short-term rentals,” said Miller. “Without a proper bylaw and good regulation, things will happen and people won’t know who to call for issues.”
Miller said STRs have been a hot-button issue for Invermere.
“We have folks who do not want short-term rentals almost at all, then we have the other side – we don’t have a lot of hotel rooms in the Invermere boundary, so STRs are a good thing economically,” said Miller. “The conversation is sometimes pretty heated, so we need to get this done and have good management and regulation put forward.”
The survey is open to all Invermere residents until Friday, Oct 27, with paper copies available at the District Office or online through the link below.
More: Invermere STR survey
More: Invermere STR bylaw information